Mine shaft sinking apparatus



Dec. 13, 1955 HAULQTTE 2,726,782

MINE SHAFT SINKING APPARATUS Filed May 15, 1955 3 Sheets-Sheet lINVIEWI'OH. AEmz/E /-/A war/*5 Dec. 13, 1955 A. HAULOTTE MINE SHAFTSINKING APPARATUS 3 SheetsSheet 2 Filed May 15, 1955 Aer/we #AULOTTE IMam A r TOE/V945 Dec. 13, 1955 A. HAULOTTE MINE SHAFT SINKING APPARATUS3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed May 15, 1953 charges for the loosening ofmaterial at the bottom of the pit, the service platform 6 should be,when not in use,raised at a substantial height above said bottom, whereit will not be damaged by flying bits of rock.

When the excavated material 1 has been completely removed, blastingholes 20 are bored, as shown in Fig. 3 and, when the explosive chargesare being fired in the blasting holes, the bottom of the pit should becleared of any hands or machinery.

By reason of the comparatively large amount of excavated material to beremoved and of the diameter of the pit, it has been necessary heretoforeto resort to a gang of workmen for the loading of the buckets since theuse of loading machinery in the nature of fixed installations, yet whichmust be removed before each firing, and restored thereafter to operatingposition, is economically impractical.

According to the present invention I provide mechanism whereby,virtually without manual labor, loosened material not only at some onepoint, but in any part of the area at the bottom of the shaft, can beengaged and lifted, and loaded into a bucket which rests upon thebottom, without interfering with the lowering of empty buckets or theraising of full buckets. The use of such mechanism eliminatessubstantially all of the back-breaking manual labor, not only in theloading but also in the positioning of the shovel, and both reduces thenumber of workmen required and speeds up the removal of loosenedmaterial. At the same time, in accordance with this invention, theloading and removing mechanism may easily be moved clear of the dangerzone during firing, and as easily restored thereafter to its operativeposition. Part of the same mechanism may,.additionally, serve as a basefor various auxiliary operations such as may possibly be required.

In Figs. 2, 3 and 4, showing my improved arrangement, an excavatingshovel 9 is suspended'from a cable 9a the length of which is thatnecessary for the desired local control of the shovel 9. This cable 9ais suspended from a point 9b constituted by the connection between threeconverging cables 10, 11, 12 the upper ends of which are respectivelywound over electrically-operated winches 14, 15, 13, which are in theirturn suspended through corresponding rings from the service platform 6so as to be capable of assuming any desired angular setting in space.The suspension points of the difierent winches are located at the outercircumference of the platform 6, angularly spaced by 120 from oneanother,

suspended from the periphery of the platform, for instance four cables,for the shifting of the excavating shovel laterally of the shaft; thesurface over which the shovel may be shifted is then a square orrectangle the area of which is larger than that of the triangle definedby three cables. However, according to the investigations made, threecables should be sufficient in practice. The end in view is to positionthe shovel at any of various locations about the bottom of the shaft, sothat it may pick up loosened material over the entire area thereof. a

A workman located at 18 at the bottom of the pit operates, through acontrol box 17 provided with pusher knobs, the raising and lowering ofthe individual cables through difierent. winches, either separately orsimultaneously. The control cable 16 leading to'the control box 17 maybe wound over a drum 23 carried by the service platform, so as ,to becapable of increasing or decreasing in length as required by the workmanat 18.

This workman may control the three winches in a manner such as to shifthorizontally the excavating shovel 9 as desired within the outline ofthe triangle defined by the horizontal projections of the winches 131415 and which encloses a sufiicient area. Thus, it is possibleto make theshovel take hold of all the excavated material even outside saidtriangular area, be-

cause in such a case the shovel may be shifted by hand by the desiredamount. The workman at 18 may alternatively control the winches from theplatform. 6, but when he is himself at the bottom of the pit, hecontrols more easily the work performed by the shovel. Lastly, theraising and lowering of the excavating shovel is ob-' tained by actingsimultaneously on the three winches 13, 14 and 15. preferable to employtwo men for guiding the hoisting buckets when they are lowered intotheir operative po-.

sition and for engaging the hook'onto the bucket to be raised. These twomen are also entrusted with the work which consists in mounting on thebucket and removing therefrom a funnel-shaped collar 19 so as to furtherthe emptying of the excavating shovel into it, and in guiding the latterso that it may take hold of the rock material even outside thetriangular outline 13, 14, 15 as provided by a light shifting ortraction exerted on the shovel 9 which carries handles for this purpose.

It should be remarked that the cables to which the excavating shovelissuspended are arranged in a manner such that, if the operator exercisesreasonable care, they do not hinder the lowering and the raising of thehoisting buckets.

When 'the excavated material has been completely loaded in buckets, theexcavating shovel 9 is raised into substantial contacting relationshipwith the service plat-' form 6, as shown in Fig. 3. The control cable 16is raised and laid on the platform 6, as provided preferably by itswinding drum 23; the bottom of theshaft is now completely clear and thefiring of the blasting charges may occur with practically no danger toany equipment, yet the removal of this equipment from and itsrestoration to operative position at the bottom of the shaft areextremely simple operations.

Fig. 5 shows a modification of the control means for the three cables10, 11 and 12. According to this modification, the three electricwinches disclosed hereinabove, forsake of simplification of thedisclosure, may be replaced by a single winch 21 having threeindependent either through an electric relay, or through compressed airor through a hydraulic control.

Turningnow to the arrangement disclosed in Figs. 6 to 9, Fig. 6 showsagain the excavated material 1 which 'is to be removed and the hoistingbucket 3 which, when filled, is hooked onto the cable of the hoistingwinch which raises it above ground, while a second cable 5 winds ofi thehoisting winch and lowers a further, empty bucket.

The excavating shovel 9 is connected with the three cables 10, 11, 12,the opposite ends of which are wound respectively over the electricallyor pneumatically operated winches 13, 14, 15, which latter are eachsuspended through a ring to the service platform 6, which is suspendedin its turn through the cable 7 and allows producing the annularconcrete lining 8 of the pit.

In my improved arrangement, the usual mounting of the cables for openingor closing the excavating shovel is replaced by an arrangement includinga cylinder 24 connected through a pivot pin 25 (Figs. 7 to 9) with thehead 26 of the shovel. Inside the cylinder 24'may move a piston 27 therod 28 of which is connected with the pivot 29 carrying the wallelements 30 of the excavating shovel so as to open the same When saidpivot is lowered from the positions illustrated in Fig. 7 to that shownin Fig. 8. A protective casing 31 thelower end of which is connectedwith the spindle 29 is slidingly fitted over the cylinder 24, the lowerend of said cylinder 24 communicates with a pipe 32 inside which flowscom In addition to the operator at 18, it is pressed air or the likefluid, the delivering of which is controlled by a valve 33. Y

A safety device constituted by a catch 34 is pivotally secured to one ofthe spindles 35 connecting the arms 36 of the excavating shovel with thehead 26 (Fig. 9). The end 34a of the catch 34 is provided with a notch37 cooperating with a projection 38 carried by the protective casing 31while the other end 34b of the catch is submitted to the action of aspring 39 opposing the action of the rod 40 of a spring-urged piston 41housed inside the casing 42 carried by the pipe 32 and fed thereby.Consequently, when compressed fluid is fed through the valve 33 into thepipe 42, the piston 41 is urged forwardly to urge the catch 34 againstthe action of the spring 39 into a position for which it releases saidprojection 38.

The operator 18 may stand on a control station 43 secured to the wall ofthe pit or suspended for instance from the winch 23, which latter iscontrolled from the actual station 43, which allows the operator at 18to proceed with the operation of the excavating shovel 9 and of thevalve 33 while watching the work from above.

When the operator at 18 is to load the hoisting buckets, he brings theexcavating shovel into the desired location by coordinated lengtheningor shortening of cables 10, 11, 12, after which, by closing the valve33, he allows the compressed air to expand inside the cylinder 24 so asto make the piston 27, and thereby the casing 31, sink, which opens theexcavating shovel as shown in Fig. 8. In order to close the shovelagain, the operator 18 acts on the valve 33 so as to send again fluidunder pressure into the pipe 32 whereby the piston 27 is urged upwardlyagain.

When the excavating shovel occupies its closed unlocked position, thecylinder 24 remains always under pressure and the safety catch occupies,in opposition to the spring 39, the position illustrated in dot and dashlines in Fig. 9. At the moment of the expansion of the compressed air orthe like fluid, i. e. when the piston 27 begins its downward movement,the pressure inside the cylinder 24 diminishes speedily and theprojection 38 carried by the casing 31 moves beyond the point ofengagement with the end 34a of the catch, and prevents no longer,consequently, the complete opening of the shovel; the catch 34 occupiesat this moment and by reason of the presence of the spring 39 theposition illustrated in Fig. 8 and also in solid lines in Fig. 9.

In case of an untimely failure of the supply of fluid, and under theaction of the spring 39, the end 34a of the catch snaps into engagementwith the underside of the projection 38 so as to lock the casing 31 asillustrated in Fig. 7 and also in dotted lines in Fig. 9, which preventsany downward movement of the pivot 29 and consequently the opening ofthe shovel. As soon as the distribution of fluid becomes normal again,the pressure of the latter produces immediately, through the piston 41,the release of the catch 34 and the arrangement operates again aspreviously described. The control of such an excavating shovel may alsobe provided by a remote control through the agency of an electric relayfor instance.

It should be remarked that an excavating shovel controlled by a chokedamp-proof electric motor may be used, if allowed, in the same manner asany other excavating shovel controlled through a cable or a chain.

Obviously, it is possible to bring to the above embodiments that havebeen illustrated in accompanying drawings, various modifications inshape and also in the mounting, design and arrangement of theircomponent parts, without unduly widening thereby the scope of theinvention as defined in the accompanying claims.

What I claim is:

1. An apparatus for sinking vertical mine shafts, comprising a serviceplatform of appreciable width and length, having an area with shapeapproximating the cross-sectional area and shape of the shaft, andhaving two holes through it, a pair of hoisting buckets for receivingloosened material, means supporting said platform at a safe distanceabove the bottom of the shaft, means above said platform suspending saidbuckets in alignment with the respective holes in the platform, forlowering the same alternately to the bottom of the shaft and raising thesame through their respective holes to a higher discharge point, anexcavating shovel, power means carried thereby to open or to close thesame, several suspension devices carried by the service platform andarranged thereon in a polygonal pattern, adjacent its perimeter,flexible suspension cables extending from said suspension devices andconverging to said excavating shovel, means for winding in or out eachsuspension cable, through the locations or" said several suspensiondevices, conjointly with or independently of the winding in or out ofany or all other such cables, control means distant from the excavatingshovel, and operatively connected to the winding means to control thewinding in or out of each cable by such winding means, and control meansdistant from said excavating shovel for controlling the power means foropening and closing the same.

2. An apparatus for sinking mine shafts as defined in claim 1, whereinsaid supporting members arranged on the perimeter of said serviceplatform for supporting the upper ends of the excavating shovelsupporting cables are constituted by winches which also serve as thewinding means for said cables.

3. An apparatus for sinking mine shafts as defined in claim 1, whereinsaid supporting members arranged on the perimeter of said serviceplatform for supporting the upper ends of the excavating shovelsupporting cables are constituted by idle pulleys, and said windingmeans are constituted by a single winch having individual drums for eachsuch cable, adapted to be independently driven for winding and unwindingsaid cables respectively.

4. An apparatus for sinking mine shafts as defined in claim 1, whereinsaid control means are supported from said service platform.

5. An apparatus for sinking mine shafts as defined in claim 4, includinga control line hanging from said service platform, and a winch upon saidplattorrn for reeling in said control line, the control means beingcarried at the lower end of said control line.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS523,807 Chaquette iuly 31, 1894 1,051,994 Gardner Feb. 4, 1913 1,326,732Holme Dec. 30, 1919 1,627,872 Strayer May 10, 1927 1,902,457 MendelsohnMar. 21, 1933 2,474,803 Putnam iune 28, 1949 2,491,583 Riddell Dec. 20,1949 2,492,217 Gristner Dec. 27, 1949 2,519,041 Gluck Aug. 15, 19502,606,679 Cryderman Aug. 12, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS 832,479 Germany Feb.25, 1952

